The Beatles
Always number one. They're so far up
there that everyone should just leave them off lists. Like "Here are
my favorite bands - oh, besides the Beatles, of course."
They Might Be Giants
The first group I really enjoyed as a fan, as early as middle school.
Thought I would grow out of it, but the songs get even more intelligent
the longer I listen to them. Some of their stuff is hit or miss,
but they keep trying. A lot.
R.E.M.
Another band I liked super early (with Green, when I was a kid), and I'm very happy
they turned out to be really good and not just a pop phase I went through.
I'm in the minority, but I continue to like their current work immensely.
Again and again, their songs I missed years ago turn out to be great
on a relisten.
Radiohead
Unlike R.E.M., I think their work has deteriorated, but is still good.
The Bends is a wonderful album, and OK Computer is a tour de force
about our technological age.
Ben Folds
Their Sessions at West 54th is my favorite music DVD. Incredible
to watch Folds on the piano, and amazing live.
Wilco
Screaming up the charts, I only got into Wilco more recently. I've tracked down all their albums, even their Woody Guthrie songs with Billy Bragg. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is a great album, and everybody's
favorite. I love it too ... but in my opinion, A Ghost is Born is even better. Not
only are there great tracks, but the entire album works as a whole
and it's groundbreaking and innovative. It demands many listens, and now
serves me almost as some sort of meditative mandala.
Cake
Not really groundbreaking in any way, just an overlooked band that's
a lot of fun and slips in some good poetry in their caustic, catchy
beats.
Spoon
I guess you could use this Spoon to eat that Cake.
- Paul Simon
- Flaming Lips
- Girl Talk
- Talking Heads
- Pacifica
- Guster
- The Dandy Warhols
- Nirvana
- Tom Petty
- Soul Coughing
- Pearl Jam
- Modest Mouse
- Phish
- Beck
- Flight of the Conchords
- Moby
